Our View: Deadbeat Illinois' burial costs backlog looks grim to us

Not even the Grim Reaper is immune from the effects of Deadbeat Illinois. Everyone deserves a proper burial, and funeral directors and cemeteries who have provided for those who die penniless or indigent should be commended for doing so. They should also get paid for the services they provide on behalf of the state.

Journal Standard

Writer

Posted Feb. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 12, 2013 at 11:22 AM

Posted Feb. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 12, 2013 at 11:22 AM

Click on the graphic to go to

the series' Facebook page.

Not even the Grim Reaper is immune from the effects of Deadbeat Illinois.

Everyone deserves a proper burial, and funeral directors and cemeteries who have provided for those who die penniless or indigent should be commended for doing so. They should also get paid for the services they provide on behalf of the state.

In the latest installment of the weekly series Deadbeat Illinois, a collaborative effort by GateHouse Media newspapers, we learned that Illinois is running up to a year behind in paying for burials and cremations.

We shouldn’t be surprised. The state is behind paying almost everyone it does business with. The bill backlog was about $6.5 billion when the week began.

As with any business, not getting paid for work already done puts a strain on cash flow. That means cuts elsewhere, or perhaps higher costs for all customers. Business owners could refuse to do business with the state, but that doesn’t solve the problem; it merely transfers the burden.

The state needs to get its fiscal house in order but, if history is our guide, we have little optimism that will happen.

Pensions are a huge drain on the state budget, consuming about 20 percent of the general revenue fund. Illinois has the worst unfunded pension liability in the country, and it will get worse the longer lawmakers avoid dealing with it. Pension costs are rising about $17 million a day.

As GateHouse News Service reporter Doug Finke pointed out in a story published Sunday, the pension woes go back decades and can be traced to lawmakers’ unwillingness to properly pay into the system.

The Generous Assembly (that’s not a typo) has allowed the state to spend more money than it takes in. Lawmakers didn’t want to say no to anybody, so they kept spending — often on constituencies that helped them get elected — and never worried about the consequences.

The consequences are that they’ve dug a hole so deep it might be impossible to get out. Last year the Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago called the pension mess “unfixable.” We hope that’s not true.

Perhaps most frustrating is that there seems to be no sense of urgency to solve problems — or at least try to. We’ve seen proposals with merit fail to get the robust discussion they deserve. We’re about six weeks into a new year and lawmakers have only worked a few hours.

Monday’s pension summit, organized by union leaders, never had a chance. Only one legislative leader, House Republican leader Tom Cross, attended.

Page 2 of 2 -
If lawmakers ever get to the solution phase there must be a commitment to live up to obligations whether it be with pensions or paying funeral home directors. Illinois residents must pay their bills and the state should be required to also.

Borrowing, as has been proposed again, is not the answer. Pension debt service alone is $1 billion a year. Another proposal that will not win any fans is to extend the “temporary” income tax increase that was passed a couple of years ago. The increase took the individual rate from 3 percent to 5 percent. The individual rate is supposed to drop to 3.75 percent in 2015 and to 3.5 percent in 2025.

The tax increase has not improved Illinois’ fiscal condition. Almost all of the additional revenue was swallowed by pension costs.

Perhaps new lawmakers can spur action. There are 22 who have declined their state pensions, including 68th District Rep. John Cabello. Perhaps their example can move the issue forward. Nothing else has.